Zakat on Gold in Yemen: 2026 Guide for Yemeni Muslims

Yes. Gold reaching or exceeding the Nisab (85 g of pure gold, ~7.5 tola) is Zakatable at 2.5% each lunar year. This applies whether the gold sits in a bank vault in Yemen, is stored at home, or is deposited with a bullion dealer. Purity is measured in karats: 24k = 100%, 22k = 91.6%, 18k = 75%, 14k = 58.3% — apply the karat factor to the total weight before comparing to Nisab.

The four Sunni schools disagree. Hanafi (dominant in Turkey, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, the Balkans and much of Central Asia) considers all gold jewellery Zakatable regardless of use. Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali exempt gold worn or lent within reasonable custom, and Zakat only on gold kept as a store of value. Yemeni Muslims predominantly follow Shafi’i/Zaydi, so apply that ruling first, then follow your local mufti’s fatwa if there is a difference.

Take the current spot price of 24-karat gold in YER per gram (our calculator fetches this live), multiply by the pure-gold weight of your holdings, then apply 2.5%. If you own a 22k chain weighing 40 g, the pure-gold weight is 40 × 0.916 = 36.64 g. Multiply that by today’s 24k spot price in YER and pay 2.5%.

If the ETF or digital-gold account represents allocated physical gold (a specific bar or share of a bar you can theoretically claim), it is treated as gold. If it is a synthetic derivative with no physical backing, most scholars treat it as an investment security and it is Zakatable at market value under normal Zakat-on-investments rules, but only if it is Sharia-screened; leveraged or interest-bearing wrappers are impermissible to hold in the first place.

Open the Zakat calculator and pick Yemen as your country. It applies the Shafi’i/Zaydi defaults, converts the Nisab benchmark to YER live and computes Zakat on gold alongside your other assets — with a downloadable Hijri-dated certificate.